One year ago today: July 19, 2023, use multiple banks, pal.
Five years ago today: July 19, 2019, the two-girl band blows it;
Nine years ago today: July 19, 2015, the fine is $500.
Random years ago today: July 19, 2012, 750 million ounces.
Supposedly my day off, let’s see if we can wring any adventure out of this Friday. Mrs. Red, Junior, has favorited a perch near the woodpecker feeder. Possibly she is becoming too tame, not bothering to avoid me in the yard like before. I’ve developed a small system to pick out the expensive tubes to list those first and discovered sales for those are quite rare. I’ve found real price variations between brands. By far, most of my stock is RCA and General Electric.
This is a test to see if I can upload a picture. It is a wristwatch with a Vantablack dial.
Landfill DesignerIt was more than a blast furnace out there, I learned later the heat index was 111°F. I doubt that is a record. I survived the whole midday under my bedroom A/C, and it cost me the day. Other than slicing a few pieces of lumber for various projects, I was inside with a gallon of peach tea and eating chilled applesauce. I made it to the library to cool down, that’s why you may see some photos today. I’m setting up a separate computer for the posts, since Google wants cookies, we’ll give them some cookies.
Technical Poet
Brakes Tester
Cat Kenneler
Whistle Instructor
Canoli Filler
Masseuse Scheduler
Trachyandra.
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It’s good you stuck around for news, I have some. The band played tonight. Just around 4:00PM I dropped into the Legion. They said sure, if you want, play any time after 6:00PM. I had cleared such short notice with the Prez this morning in case this happened and we got there just in time. The Legion has a new financial officer, who I recognized from local jams as a mandolin player. Nobody left at the club, including the long-term barmaid can remember me playing there back in 2017 with Mack. They thought I was mis-remembering until I pointed out where the stage and dance floor used to be.
They did not know what to expect since this scene made us a brand new band from their viewpoint. The commander was there by 6:00PM and we opened with a generic set of oldies. Smart move, that and keeping the volume low, just above conversation level. We began getting tips instantly, including $5s and $10s, usually a sign you are connecting with the crowd. First, a quick documentation of what went wrong—this blog is as much for that as the whitewashed versions you get on the band sites.
The Prez was comping a bit to much, indicating he has been standing in with other bands. The songs lose their “feel” over that. We also burned through our entire song list in less than the mapped time and resorted to some real jamming at the end, plus six or so tunes that fell off the bottom of the list months ago. I had a tougher time than usual singing. Compared to strumming (and I’ve done both), singing to the bass is about three times more difficult. Now, on to what went right.
It took very few tunes to warm up the crowd, and once again the preponderance of “chick songs” got the assertive women in the crowd on our side right away. Smart move, and after just ten or so minutes, the club asked for our price and contact info. We quoted them super low, as at this time we are looking for something steady and the club know that would not apply to holiday weekends. The eldest patron there is 94 and they use him as the volume detector. We are informed we are the first band he did not complain about. There you go.
Ourselves, we took a little too long to warm up, but after the first set we had things moving. The club supplied free drinks and extra tokens we did not spend (“Keep them,“ said the server); While I can’t tell you the total in tips until that becomes, under President Trump, non-taxable, the van has a full tank of gas, I’m taking tomorrow off instead, and the Prez is taking his wife out to dinner. I’ve seen that before, the wife being a bit indifferent about a band, but have yet to know of any who turned down the benefits.
[Author’s note: This makes sense in a way. The wife, not being a musician, doesn’t like to go out and sit by herself. But letting the hubby go alone can ruffle feathers. But once the money starts coming in, hallelujah. The other usually unspoken effect of band tips is a social thing, in that stage time is not the same as other forms of work for tips. Band money seems free.
I documented this effect in the late 00s, how it “takes the pressure off” other areas. Free drinks is an automatic savings. But here’s what I mean, when you have this form of tip money, you’ll find if you go grocery shopping, you will now pick the best cuts, the organic brands, and something for yourself, because it is now easy to “top off” the bit more these cost. And those two extra tanks of gas means, like me, you rarely worry about what it costs to take the scenic route.]
Toward the end, we had them dancing in the aisles. A few couples came in after 8:00PM who loved our material right away, it was a bit like having cheerleaders. We played three hours, not the standard four, and managed to get through without any repeats. For a small city, I was surprised to recognize only one or two faces out there. Second last, a few words on the economics. The only other regular entertainment they have is that Karaoke guy. He’s the right man for that job, but even I must admit he is not doing as well as that place would like. I was asked to take over some time back, but declined. There is already a rumor they will move him to Friday as Saturday is their big night. That’s all I know, I’m not saying we have that slot.
Last, the music. Other than some tactical improvements showing their need, it was quite the show. Several times people came near the stage to see if they really were listening only to a duo. My bass “lead” breaks were a hit—but only to the minority who knew what was happening. I knew there was nothing wrong with our song list though I think I may ramp up the audience participation aspect. Best tunes of the night were, “Folsom Prison”, “Jackson”, and “Driving My Life Away”. And there is little doubt left that arranging the music for this form of duo presentation is a winner.
ADDENDUM
I finally read up on artificial diamonds after reading the total carat sales have surpassed real, or mined, diamonds. The biggest user of “lab-grown diamonds are Swiss watchmakers to the tune of $24 billion a year. If you’d like to see these $50,000 timepieces, heres’ a link to one of the Watches & Wonders events. Some of the cases are 3D printed in gold. The 3D on the Bulgari 180 is, I believe, some kind of perpetual calendar. Back to the diamonds, but if you did follow that link and wonder what Vantablack is, it is paint. The blackest paint ever.
The lab-grown diamonds are make in a few hours with some sort of chemical “deposit” method and plugged as free from the evils of natural diamonds. That would be child labor, grift, poor mining safety, DeBeers, and . The blurb is “free from human and environmental toll”. They are chemically identical but mainly have a yellow tinge due to the presence of nitrogen.
In another lab over in Iran, rumor has it they are only two weeks away from producing enough fuel for a nuclear bomb. I believe the three likely targets are Washington DC, Orlando, and somewhere in California. In Miami and other places, they would be killing too many of their own. The radiation would blow out to sea, except for California where the intent would be to poison anything in its path.
